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Tuesday, July 5, 2011

WHAT'S IN YOUR BUCKET? GASOLINE OR WATER

In more than thirty years of leadership, I have learned that those closest to the leader will determine the success level of that leader. A negative reading of this statement is also true: Those closest to the leader will determined the level of failure.

As a potential leader you are either an asset or a liability to the organization. I illustrate this truth by saying, "When there's a problem, a 'fire' in the organization, you as a leader are often the first to arrive at the scene. You have in your hands two buckets. One contains water and the other contains gasoline. The 'spark' before you will either become a greater problem because you pour the gasoline on it, or it will be extinguished because you use the bucket of water."

The question a leader needs to ask is, "Am I training them to use the gasoline or the water?"